


Promises

by NachoSkyDuck



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Redemption, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:08:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27723277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NachoSkyDuck/pseuds/NachoSkyDuck
Summary: After painful months and sleepless nights, Angel Dust feels closer than ever to redemption. But even with the help of his hotelier friends, there are still two obstacles standing in the way. One a moth possessive of his property, willing to do whatever it takes to keep the vice of his grip and the grip of vice around the little spider. And the other... the spider himself.This is a little 'what-if' on how Angel Dust's arc could come to a close in Hazbin Hotel.
Relationships: Angel Dust/Husk (Hazbin Hotel)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 55





	Promises

Everyone stood in silence, an eerie emptiness in the air that was oft only felt in the minutes before the Exterminators descended. Now was not unlike those moments. The street afront the Hazbin Hotel had become a localized ghost town, besides the Hotel dwellers themselves. And their unwelcomed 'guest'.

In the middle of the road, he stood. Imposingly towering over all the other demons, his signature smoke spreading across the ground like strangling vines. Valentino. Pimp, pornographer, overlord extraordinaire. A shark's grin spread across his face as he lifted an arm, hand outstretched beckoningly. All eyes followed to its target… Angel Dust.

"I think it's time we end this game, Angel Cakes," Val said, heart-shaped glasses glinting as his head tilted, "We have work to catch up on."

"He's not going anywhere with you!" Charlie called out, earning a chuckle from the overlord moth.

"Did I speak to you?" Valentino said, "Did I ask for your fuckin' opinion? This is between me and Angel. So…" A serpent of smoke – unseen as it slithered up – lashed at Charlie's ankle, but was quickly decapitated by Vaggie's spear. "Keep aside, sweetheart."

"Val-" Angel opened his mouth to speak, but that familiar grip wrapped around his waist. Tendrils of smoke pulled him off balance and forced him to walk like a puppet on strings. Oh, how those memories would strike the spider-demon like lightning in his counselling… and god, how he wept when the walls finally broke down. He was reassured this part of his life was over.

"Angel, Angel, Angel…" Valentino spoke as the sinner came closer and closer, "…you made me laugh when you called."

"It wasn't a joke-" Angel's protest was silenced as the pimp's hand gripped his cheeks,

"But I'm not playing games now." Valentino's smoke wrapped around Angel and squeezed tightly, restricting his limbs in a pink cocoon. "Back to the studio. Back to work. We'll make sure you're nice and ready." Valentino pinched Angel's nose and twisted back-and-forth.  
  
"I'm clean," Angel spat out. The word was still sour in his mouth, not for the ideal but for the sense memory. So many nights of withdrawal that choked him breathless like the binding smoke. "Keep your cheap, laced, cut shit for your whores."

"You say that like you're not one of-"

"I'm not your whore anymore!"

That was when the cold metal barrel pressed on Angel's chin. The click of a hammer pulled back to prep the round in the chamber. Charlie tensed. Vaggie put a hand on her shoulder. Niffty was hiding behind Husker's leg. ' _Where the hell is Alastor?_ ' was the prevailing thought between them.

"Not a smart thing to say, Angel Cakes." Valentino leaned in close, "One way or another, it's time to check out. You can either wake up in the studio or cannibal town." Angel's face was thrust up as the gun was driven harder against his flesh. "Easy choice, baby." That shit-eating grin was long gone. Replaced by a foul mood. Dealing with Angel always put him in a foul mood. "Five seconds to make up your mind."

Angel stayed silent.

"Four."

Charlie looked to Vaggie. But what could _she_ do?  
  
"Three."  
  
What could any of them do?  
  
"Two."  
  
It was an overlord. A titan of Hell.

"One."  
  
They were powerless.

"Time's up." Valentino said. Angel's eyes clenched shut as the moth's finger squeezed on the trigger. BANG.

Angel dropped to the asphalt. Silence once again ruled the air. No one would dare to usurp it. After what they had witnessed… what had just happened… Shock and awe was all they could muster. Aside Angel's limp hand sat Valentino's hat, small drips of blood speckled the zebra-print. Val reached to his head and fixed his glasses. One lens was completely shattered and the frame bent. Then he felt his bare antenna, now crooked like a battered twig. Running from the base of the antenna to his jaw was a fresh, oozing wound. A graze to someone of such stature and strength. Angel's eyes opened. He could feel the hot line the bullet had left across his cheek. Could smell the blood dripping onto his arm. Could see the remnants of a bottle of cheap booze that had been thrown at the overlord.

"Who the FUCK," Valentino growled, turning the gun to the Hotel staff, "THREW THAT?!"

The answer was apparent as Husk stepped forward.

"Touch him again," Husk said, "And I'll throw this." His hand planted on Niffty's head and drug her out from behind him. "She bites."

"Radio Demon's little pussy?" Valentino said, shaking his head, "I remember you. And the things my little Angel did. All to make me promise not to touch you." A twitch of a snarl flickered over Husk's lip as Valentino continued. "But he always forgets… I can lie." The gun drifted and the sights fell directly on Husker.

"You like to talk, huh?" Husk said,

"Sure," Valentino said, "But I also like to fuck up any bitch outta line. And I've been waiting a long time to fuck up radio boy's little posse."

"Well, I've waited a hundred years for someone to shoot me," Husk said, outstretching his arms, "What the fuck _you_ waitin' for? _Huh_?!"

"Husk?" Angel muttered beneath weak breath, lifting his head from the ground. Eyes went from a squint to wide-worry when he saw the showdown. He pushed himself up and seethed as a shard of glass stabbed into his arm. He grabbed his wrist and fell to the ground again. Eye-to-eye with the bottle-green and blood, each second resonated with a hard beat of his heart. And it'd be replaced with another gunshot at any time now.

"I'm waiting for an audience," Valentino looked down at Angel and their eyes locked, "Feels good having friends, Sugar? Bet it feels real sweet now." BANG. Husk's shoulder recoiled as hot lead pierced through it. A clean shot, in-and-out. The cat grit his teeth and suppressed the cry of pain, just grips the wound tightly and stared the moth down.

"Val!" Angel called out, being met with the still-smoking barrel inches from his face. "Stop…"

"What was that?" Val said, pressing the muzzle to Angel's forehead. The spider put on a trembling, faux-smile.

"Please, mista Valentino?" Angel said. He practically threw up in his own mouth when he dredged up that saccharine, submissive voice. "I'll go back to the studio. The streets. Whatever you want." As the sharp grin returned, Angel knew he got through.

"Good boy." Valentino said, flicking his hand up. The smoke returned and massed beneath Angel, lifting up on unsteady legs. "Just like the early days, Sugar. When these lessons just wouldn't stick." He pat Angel's cheek as he tucked the pistol away. "Now let's go, baby." He went to turn, but Angel grabbed the pimp's sleeve.

"Just one thing," Angel said, a nodding gesture for the overlord to lean in. Valentino's face was unamused by Angel's delay, but he would humour it if it got him a little sum'in-sum'in.

"What is it?" Valentino said, leaning close as a hand, coiled with smoke, laid itself on Angel's chin.

"I can lie too" Angel said. An audible catching of breath in Val's throat sounded out and eyes shot open. " _Mista Valentino._ " Angel pushed forward, hard. The overlord's hands grasped onto Angel's shoulders and began to shake. At a firm 90-degree angle from Val's stomach jutted a large shard of broken glass, wrapped in a torn remnant of Angel's sleeve. Valentino's face was not pained as he looked down at the seeping neon-pink inhuman blood. There was no pain. Simply brimstone fury of a demon royally pissed off.

"Big. Fucking. Mistake." Valentino said, voice strained, before his lower arms jumped up to Angel's throat.

"Go ahead, you fuckin' pompous shithead," Angel said. His hands instinctively went to Val's wrists, but were pulled back with tendrils of smoke. The spider knew he'd rather die again than submit. Rather be chopped up in Cannibal Colony than watch his friends get hurt again. If he left them alone, he'd accept it. Maybe there'd be some peace and quiet in his head, once he'd died a final death.

As the breath drained beneath Valentino's fingers, he felt a perverse joy. Of all the vices, drugs, and sex… nothing compared to snuffing out a soul. Not just blasting them dead and letting them come back. But making sure they never could. Erasing them clean from Hell. Not that cannibals were a clean bunch, of course. Valentino felt a warm joy as Angel's eyes began to roll over. A warm joy that grew and grew… climbing higher, higher, damn near to the clouds of heaven's kingdom! It was so warm it… it began to burn.  
  
"Hm?" Valentino's attention drew to the crook of his elbow. A small flame had sprouted. Like a candle wick. His hand released Angel's shoulder and slammed down on the flame, extinguishing it. But another sprouted on the back of the same hand. It pulled back and shook, but the flames just spread over his fingers. "What the fuck?!" Valentino yelled out, releasing his victim and trying to swipe the fire away. But it just kept gnawing into his flesh, clawing up his arm.

High above there was a twinkle in the sky. The blink of a star amidst the cluster of clouds surrounding heaven's haloed moon. And from it shone a blinding bolt of light that raced through the crimson sky. A sonic boom rung out across Pentagram City as the bolt pierced the silhouette of the city. Valentino peered up and saw it for but a few seconds before he was bathed in the light of the Lord. The impact quaked throughout the city, wobbling everyone's stance, and the shockwaves erupted out and fluttered their clothing.

The overlord's face stretched in a scream of anguish, but not a sound escaped him. It was like a cascade of an ocean upon his shoulders and he fell to a kneel. His burning hand clenched his chest. From his very core spread an ember ring. From its edge fell ashes. Spreading out further and further. His arm began to crack and crumble. The titan crackling and crumpling like a burning paper man.

Valentino looked up and met eyes with Angel one more time. He reached up and removed his glasses. Hot pink eyes squinted and he sneered. It held steady as the ember and ash covered his face. When the pimp's form finally collapsed into a mound of ash, the smoke spread out and lifted from the ground. Wisps twisting in little hearts. Evaporating in a final hiss.

And they were all left standing before an empty beam of light. Glowing like the last spotlight on a stage. Charlie, Niffty, Husk, and Vaggie all approached. Charlie's hand went to Angel's back but her eyes never left the light.

"What is it?" Niffty was the first to say,

"Do you think it's…?" Vaggie said, turning to her paramour. Charlie shrugged.

"Maybe, but," Charlie's face scrunched in uncertainty, "could it really be?"

"Ow!" Niffty called out, pulling back the finger she had experimentally prodded into the light, "Yep, it burns."

As everyone tried to figure it out… Angel knew. In the pit of his stomach and the back of his mind, Angel had a feeling. The same one you get when you _just know_ someone's watching you. When you hear the phone ring and you _just know_ it's for you. When you find that one thing that makes you feel good and you _just know_ you need it in the rest of your life. Angel stepped forward silently and outstretched a hand. He closed his mismatched eyes. A deep breath drew in and he winced at the pain in his throat.

Then he felt the spark. And a tingling across his fingertips. Another step and another. The feeling spread down his arm and across his chest. There was no more pain in his throat… no more screaming in his head… no more burning in his chest. Surrounded by light, he had never felt this way before. A calm, serene content washed over his body.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that was where the others were staring. His body. Angel looked down and there was a very noticeable absence. His bountiful bosom of fluff had vanished. All of his well-kempt pink-and-white had vanished and was replaced by alabaster skin. Three sets of arms down to just one. His legs significantly shorter. Angel… he was human again.

"Guys…" Angel said, looking up as a smile spread across his new-old face, "Is… am I-"

"You did it, Angel." Charlie said, shock giving way to joy, "You're redeemed."

Like a wild party, Angel's heart could not be contained. Excitement filled his very soul and he looked back-and-forth amongst the people who had gotten him where he stood now. Vaggie, abrasive… yet when Cherri wasn't there, she held his hair back when he was vomiting through withdrawal nights. Niffty, who made that hotel sparkle and shine, even kept Angel's hands away from any relapse materials. Charlie, who never gave up on the spider. No matter how he put up walls or spat sarcasm & spite. And Husk…

He leapt forward and wrapped his arms around them. A full set each. Wait…

"What? No. No, no, no…" Angel said, looking down at his regained spider form. "I was just… how'd-" Husk shoved him back into the light and it became crystal clear. The most obvious part of it all was also the one part that escaped his mind. He didn't belong there anymore. He couldn't stay.

"I can't." Angel said, smile fading as the epiphany set in.

"You can't?" Vaggie said,

"I can't go."

"What? Angel, you have to go!" Charlie said, reaching out for him before Vaggie stopped her short from the light, "This is what we've been working for."

"So that's it?" Angel said, stepping out of the light, "All this time, all this work, and… and I just go? That's it?!"

"That's what redemption _is_ , Angel…" Charlie said, tone sympathetic.

"So being redeemed means-" Angel paused, before shaking the creeping thoughts out of his mind, "No. I'm not going. No way." He pushed past Charlie, whose face had dropped and dream had shattered so close before her. Angel walked toward the Hotel's door. But he stopped when his hand pressed on the wood. He could feel their eyes on him. Anger. Betrayal. Shock. Worry. But none of them could hold a candle to what had soured his joy… Fear.

Nothing they could say would work. How long had he spent among them? How many days had they seen him break down? All the pain released in tears and anger and… After everything, they just expect him to leave? They were surprised. But it couldn't be clearer. What could Heaven offer but a cheap facsimile of what he already had here?

"Hey." Came a familiar gritty voice. And the familiar hand touched his arm, sending the usual shiver down Angel's spine. "Are you really gonna do this?" Angel gave a nod. He had made up his mind. No one would make him shift. Not even _him_. "So, you lied to me, huh?"

And it came back. The memory of that night.

"You're so warm, Husk-y~" Angel had teased.

  
  
"That's the electric blanket." Husk dryly responded.

So many months ago. It was the first night for them… together. In a bed amid a garden of empty bottles and discarded clothes. A table sat with playing cards that Angel used to whittle down the gruff exterior of Husk… betting money, betting drinks, secrets, promises, performances… How quickly a game of cards became the sharing of stories. The telling of tales. The bonding of beaus.

When Husk showed that crack in the façade. The mask could be pried up by a spider with enough fingers, time, and flirtatious words. They shared in loss and hurt. They took comfort in one another.

"We should do this again," Angel said, crawling up to nestle his head in Husker's neck,

"Yeah, well, book a room with one bed."

"Kinky~"

Husk huffed.

"Why waste space? Only one of us would show up."

"What? Didn't have a good time, baby?"

"You've been on me since we met. Now you got it. So, stop bullshittin' me." Husk rolled his legs off the bed and sat upright. Leaving an indignant spider in the middle of the bed.

"What the hell are you talkin' about?"

"You got what you wanted, no you're gonna move on to the next guy." Husk said, fingers searching between bottles for one that had any trace of drink left within, "I ain't got money. I ain't got 'emotions'… all I got is age," when he finally found a little leftover, he lifted it quickly to his lips and drained the thimbleful, "and alcohol."

"What? You think I'm some kinda gold-digger?" Angel said, "If I wanted money, I'd stick with Val. If I wanted emotions, I'd show Charlie that video of Nuggs again." Angel scooted up behind Husk and the cat felt the press of fluff against his back. "You're somethin' else, kitty. You're… special, I guess?"

"Yeah, that's a fuckin' lie if I ever heard one."

"I'm not lyin'!"

"Bullshit. I've heard enough of 'em to know when someone's-"

"Husk, shut up." Angel said, all six arms wrapping around the bartender. Husk didn't like it. He was too warm… his wings were getting crushed… the spider smelled like latex and lube… But he didn't try to move. "I'm not lyin'. I wouldn't lie to you."

"Heard that before."

"Okay, how about this?" Angel snaked around so he could slip his head into Husk's lap. He looked up at the cat with a smug little smile on his face. "We make a bet."

"A bet?"

"Yeah. A bet. I thought you knew what those were?"

"I know what a fu- What's the damn bet?!"

"I bet that I will never lie to you."

"Ya' kiddin', right?"

Angel shook his head.

"That's the stupidest-"

" If I do!" Angel interrupted Husk, "Then I'll work the front desk."

"For how long?"

"Always. And you wouldn't have to take care of Fat Nuggets anymore."

"Huh…"

"Good deal?"

"And what if you win?"

"How could I win?"

"Good point."

"So, we have a deal?"

Husk paused. He wanted a drink. But with the spider's head in the way – and that dumb smile on it, too – there was no way to get one. Except…

"Fine. You got a bet." Husk said, before planting his hand on Angel's face and pushing his head aside, "I need a drink…"

"Where did I lie?" Angel said.

"You said you'd make it," Husk said, "When I caught you with the needle."

"I just said that to get you outta my room."

"So, you lied?"

"No, I- It wasn't a-" Angel turned around, a blush on his face.

"So, you wanna work the front desk?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"You're not doin' that."

"Oh for the love of- What do you want me to say?!"

"That you didn't lie."

"Come on, Husk," Angel said, "Things are different now."

"What did you say?"

"Things are different now?"

"No. On that day."

"I don't remember…" Angel's lower arms hugged to his body.

"Two lies."

"Fine!" Angel said, rolling his eyes, "I said 'I'll keep trying'."

"Until?"

"Until…?"

"Until?" Husk insisted,

  
  
"Until… I get redeemed."

Angel hadn't ever screamed so angrily at someone before. When Husker had found him with that needle. He just wanted one little taste. That day's session had dug too deep… too many scars reopened and weeping. The burning in his veins had come back. Just one shot was all he needed. A painkiller. But Husk showed up. Wrenched the syringe out of his hands and broke it on the wall. Angel cut his tongue trying to lap up the liquid among the broken glass. And the foul taste just made him throw up. The only reason Husk kissed him after was probably the leftover taste of the vodka they used to clean out his tongue wound. And why had Husk brought this memory back? Because of what Angel had said. Back then, he was still so weak… but Husk made him say it. That he'd keep going. Keep fighting. Stay strong and don't snap like a dummy stick. Just keep trying until he got redeemed.

"Husk…" Angel leaned down as arms wrapped around the feline, "…I can't go."

"You don't wanna go." Husk corrected, a hand rubbing along Angel's back. The palm was warm and gentle.

"I can't leave you guys. Not after everything."

"Three lies," Husk said, "Are you just lettin' me win, now?"

"Stop fucking joking!" Angel said. A phrase like that from him was not to be taken lightly. "I'm… I've never had… y'know?"

"Friends?"

"Yeah. Ones that gave a damn about me. Cherri, Charlie, You… I couldn't do this without you guys." Angel looked over to the beam of light and the group surrounding it. "What am I gonna do when you're not around?"

"Guess you're gonna wait," Husk put a hand to Angel's chin and pulled him eye-to-eye, "Cus we'll come to see you."

"What?"

"Eventually. It took _you_ this long, so we're gonna take… another hundred years?"

"It didn't take that long." Angel said, the corner of his lip tugged by a chuckle.

"We'll get there," Husk pulled at the spider's chin until their lips met in a soft peck, "Angel."

"Promise?"

"Sure."

By the hand, Husk led Angel back to the street. The group parted as the light still beckoned. The glow hadn't diminished nor faltered. It was there with purpose and it must be fulfilled. Finality ruled emotion as Angel shared his final moments with them all. He put a hand to his breast and felt the shrapnel fragment in his pocket. To Angel, it was just as good as her being there. He gave Charlie's hand a squeeze and she smiled encouragingly. A solemn nod between the spider and the Salvadorian moth. Niffty was dusting the ashes from Angel's boots.

Once more, he stepped into the light. Spider gave way to human. All except for one part… the hand that still held Husker's. To that, he still held tight.

"I guess this is goodbye." Angel said. With that word, he felt lighter than air. Every chained-weight of sin left him and the dregs of his soul finally shed. His feet lifted from the ground and gentle hands took him to wing. Angel felt like he was glowing. Filled to the brim with acceptance, bliss, joy, virtue, and a loving embrace that could only come from the gates of Heaven. Or the arms of Husk.

"Husk," Angel said, as tears began to roll across his cheeks, "I'll need you to look after Fat Nuggets."

"If he eats my lunch again, I'll throw the little fucker to ya" he said. Angel laughed, tears still streaming. Husk felt his heels lift from the asphalt, but this sensation was soon replaced as he felt a searing pain across his hand. Finally, the spider and cat released each other. Angel ascended… speed growing as the light faded behind him.

And soon enough, he was gone.

The first sinner to be redeemed.

Husk couldn't help but remember it all as he watched Fat Nuggets do his shaking little dance to the radio tunes. For the first few weeks, Fat Nuggets couldn't stop rushing to doors and scratching at walls. Always thinking his owner was returning or wanting to reach that picture hung on Husker's wall.

It was askew again.

Husker approached it and righted it. A basic frame that held a photo. Husk in a headlock with pure surprise on his face as the flash and the photographer caught him off guard. Angel and his selfies… The cat always found time to check the photo between daily sessions. Even when they poked him too hard. Riled the bear. He kept at it. Husker made a promise, after all.

"Already been six months," Husker said, placing his palm against the frame. He then looked down at his right palm. The burn scar was still there. Slashed through the heart in his palm.

"Husker!" Charlie said, peeking her head around the door, "We finished early, so we can start your session now, if you want?"

"Nah," Husker said, righting himself quickly, "I've, uh… I gotta feed the pig. Yeah."

"You can bring Nuggs, that's no problem!" Charlie said, beaming and enthusiastic as ever.

"Fine," Husk said, leaning down to pick up the little porcine pet, "Come on, let's go… be better people, I guess."

Fat Nuggets oinked in approval.

In the doorway, Husk looked back. Angel's eyes met him from the frame.

"See you soon," Husk said, turning out the lights.

**The End.**


End file.
